Dr Gloom

I'm being more and more impressed every day - I like the way Barton has mentioned the "sell" that was given to him and Viduka looks the same. Could be cynical and mention the money but I get the feeling Sam, as with the backroom thing, just goes about things "properly". proper manager tbh

the resemblance is uncanny big sam mike basset

interesting. from those quotes it sounds like big same might give up on his three-pronged attack he used at bolton and revert to a 4-4-2.

good player. maybe they'll swap him back for duff

anal back from holiday then? i recognise that prose anywhere

i definitely think we've sold to the right bloke. he seems a far better bet than the likes of polygon or belgravia

ok. now let's buy 4 new defenders

so no profit at all then. i reckon we could have got in the region of £8-10m if we'd held out. not least because he's english

it's good that sam's bolstering the squad by signing decent players for small fees knowing that there's money in the bank to splurge on a big name player if we need to.

6-7 goals a season is a decent return from a centre midfielder as long as the widemen chip in with a few - something duff and dyer have to improve on

parker certainly isn't a goal-scoring midfielder. is barton? Year-----Games------Goals 2006-----33-----------6 2005-----31-----------7 2004-----31 ----------1 2003-----28-----------1 2002------7-----------1

i don't massively rate either barton or parker. i'd say we've probably got the slightly better deal though. what do you reckon?

agreed. he won't hang around for long when he realises he doesn't have a say in how the club is run anymore. unless he fancies being ashley's yes man. it would be best for everyone if he fucked off tbh.

he's got pace to burn. i reckon he'd do a job in the premiership but £9m is pricey for a 30 year old.

leazes is seething

Not produced any great performances as of yet, doesn't strike me as a leader of men, has no great loyalty to the club what exactly do you see in Duff? Nobody "secretly" knows he's a talent, we know he had a couple of seasons at blackburn where he looked top dog, but since his Chelsea move he's looked listless and lacking in ideas. Why in Gods name would you bestow captaincy on him? it's akin to giving it to Carr he looked a decent player for chelsea too to be fair. it's only since he's started wearing a newcastle shirt that he's looked complete and utter gash.

could be the next nemanja vidic. that said, he could equally be the next marcelino. unknown quantity-tastic. anyone who's seen much of him care to comment?

solano or given for me. taylor is still a it young and not good enough to start every game guaranteed

solano and dyer to fight it out for the rb position next season?

i'm a bit indifferent to this news tbh. not a bad player but not one to get the pulse racing either. plus he seems like a complete twat off the field. hope he isn't as big a let down as parker turned out to be. english players with big reputations on big wages often are.

god i hope we're not one of them. he's awful.

we're in for a relegation battle if we start next season with that back four

dyer's best asset is his versitility. he'll do a decent job at right back.

allegedly. i suppose as a front three... dyer---viduka----duff isn't that bad on paper. shame duff's been absolute garbage since he joined us.

bit of a livewire. not sure about building a team around him. he always looked better coming off the bench as an impact player